“A calendar printed in an office may seem insignificant. When you peel away the layers, you truly understand that it was a gift,' director Christian D. Bruun said.
A Simmons College graduate, she started out in New York working in Lord & Taylor’s visual department and later wrote for the New York Herald Tribune. With a $1,000 loan from a friend, she launched the Fashion Calendar in 1945. In the years that followed, she often found herself mentoring young designers — many of whom are now the leaders of the industry.
In an interview Wednesday, the film’s Danish-born director, producer and cinematographer Christian D. Bruun praised Finley’s ability to strike a work-life balance as an entrepreneur and “a great mom” in the 1940s and 1950s. The film’s star had seen a nearly final version of the documentary before her passing. But she was more pleased about the story of New York“In some ways, it was not about her. She did talk about herself with me but that was not how she operated or why she did what she did. She just did it because she liked to be part of the industry, just do her job and put her kids through school,” Bruun said. “I think she would want to be remembered as a good mom and a good friend…she just enjoyed the ride.
“A calendar printed in an office may seem insignificant. When you peel away the layers, you truly understand that it was a gift. What makes it exciting was that she kept that position of being important even way past when it could have become an app or any of those other things,” Bruun said.“Sometimes, I’m sure it was frustrating that they had to go through this hub. But many, many times she would offer a solution.